PEAPACK-GLADSTONE -- Kate Whitman, 32, the daughter of former Gov. Christie Whitman, lost a three-way race in today's Republican primary for two seats on the Peapack-Gladstone borough council.

In the Republican bastion, a win in the primary is tantamount to winning a seat in the general elections. No Democrats were on the ballot.

In what the town clerk called an unusually high turnout in the small borough for a primary election, Whitman received 302 votes. The winners were incumbent Michael Seboria, 357 votes, and Katherine Howes, the highest vote-getter with a tally of 361.

Voter turnout was 35 percent.

"I was disappointed with the outcome," Whitman said after the votes were counted this evening. "But I think Peapack-Gladstone has two great people who represented the town well."

Seboria, 66, an incumbent with nearly three decades of public service, has served 19 years on the council.

Howes, 50, has been on the land use board for two years and was passed over when the local Republican committee endorsed Whitman and Seboria.

Whitman had previously lost a race against Leonard Lance for Congress, and failed in a bid to get a screening committee endorsement for county freeholder.

The complaint against Whitman then was her lack of experience. In interviews, Whitman, who grew up in neighboring Far Hills, said she was running because she wanted to help the community in which she lives, along with her husband and 4-year-old twins.